What Caused the Severe NLEX Flooding That Triggered Hours-Long Traffic?
The effects of a river overflowing due to heavy rains.
(SPOT.ph) Heavy rains brought about by the combined effects of the southwest monsoon and tropical cyclones caused the Pampanga river to overflow, flooding parts of the North Luzon Expressway (NLEX) that stranded motorists had to endure for hours, the Metro Pacific Tollways Corporation (MPTC) said as it listed down solutions on how to ease traffic in the expressway.
Long queues of vehicles endured the heavy traffic in some parts of NLEX this week, with the gridlock concentrated at the Tulaoc Bridge in San Simon, Pampanga where floods were reportedly 50 centimeters deep. That's about 1 and 3/10 times the size of a bowling pin, according to The Measure of Things, but it's enough to keep motorists moving at a snail's pace—if they are moving at all—for hours.
As of August 4, 6:15 p.m., some 30 to 35cm flood is reported at the rightmost part of the Petron Plaridel to Tulaoc Bridge northbound lane and the Mexico (Petron Lakeshore Area) to Tulaoc Bridge southbound lane, forcing vehicles to move between five to 10 kilometers per hour.
Also read: Heads Up, Motorists: You Will Now Have to Pay Toll for the NLEX-SLEX Connector
What caused the traffic-triggering floods at NLEX?
"The Pampanga River overflow is causing intense traffic to NLEX San Simon, Pampanga area in both northbound and southbound directions," said MPTC President and CEO Rogelio "Babes" Singson in a post released by the Department of Transportation.
"We want to elevate the Tulaoc, San Simon segment area, but unfortunately hindi namin maitaas nang husto dahil sa Tulaoc Bridge sa itaas. We need to coordinate with DPWH (Department of Public Works and Highways) para maitaas din ang tulay," said Singson while admitting that this solution will take time.
Currently, the MPTC—which operates toll roads including NLEX—is in coordination with the local government units of San Simon and Pampanga to fix the waterways and drainage system in the area.
"In the meantime, naglagay na tayo ng sandbag and may waterpump na rin para ilabas 'yung tubig," he said.
More on mobility:
Caloocan to España in Five Minutes? This New Section of the NLEX Connector Aims to Make it Happen
Get to Tagaytay Faster When the CALAX Silang-Aguinaldo Interchange Opens in September
What to do when in NLEX
Motorists in Class 1 and 2 vehicles are advised to take the leftmost and middle lanes, while Class 3 vehicles—specifically large trucks—may take the middle and rightmost lanes—aka the flooded areas.
"Please stay in your respective lane, avoid changing lanes," the NLEX Corporation said in its latest advisory.